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A friendly and welcoming B&B in Mawgan Porth

This summer in our not so wonderfully sunny month of July my boyfriend and I went to Cornwall for a weekend. It was our first time away with each other and we did not want to break the bank with where we stayed because we are still hoping to go abroad somewhere in September.

-----------------------------------------------How I came across Seavista Bed & Breakfast...-----------------------------------------------

I searched on google for two nights in Mawgan Porth in Cornwall for hotels, none of which were in our price range. I then started looking at bed & breakfasts and Seavista popped up in my search. I was instantly very impressed with the modern, and well-presented website that they had.

---------------Mawgan Porth---------------

Mawgan Porth is a really quaint area between Newquay and Padstow (more or less smack bang in the middle of the two). It has its own gorgeous beach which is situated in a valley. It has a couple of nice places to eat and some beach type shops. It has a pitch and put and many caravan and holiday home sites. Due to having been to Mawgan Porth before I knew it was a nice area so that was why it was where we started looking for places to stay. I am a massive fan of Padstow so I definitely wanted a day trip there and I did not want to be somewhere like Newquay which is not so quaint and serene (it is a little more manic) full of what are in my opinion quite tacky shops and arcades etc.

The background of the website is in a pale turquoise and blue which I have to say in my opinion are very tranquil colours that made me think of the sea. There are six different headings on the websites for details about Seavista:

The first heading is for who to contact (where you contact them by email or it provides a telephone number). I loved that the couple running the B&B had provided a really nice friendly photograph of themselves which instantly gave a welcoming feel to the website.

Heading 2 gave a description of the type of rooms that are available in the B&B i.e. family rooms and double rooms. Under this heading it also gave the name of the interior designer of the rooms and some photographs which looked really shabby chic (with gorgeous bedding and decorative ornaments).

Heading 3 gave lots of local information on where to eat out e.g. Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant.

The last heading showed the prices (this I particularly liked because quite a lot of the websites I looked on did not show prices and sometimes it is just easier to know whether it is completely out of your price range or not without having to speak to somebody on the phone).

---------------------So I Rang Seavista...---------------------

I gave Seavista a ring only a week prior to when we wanted to go away - I thought it was probably going to be fully booked but to our amazement the lady said she had a room free. So I told her I'd speak to my boyfriend about it and after 20 minutes I rang her back and paid the deposit. The lady sounded so lovely on the phone which was of course another good sign.

--------------------When We Arrived...--------------------

It was quite easy to find, it was at the top of the valley only a few minutes from the beach. It was down a narrow turn off from the main road and as we got there were several spaces outside to park in which belonged to Seavista (I had checked this out prior since I knew we needed a car parking space). From the outside Seavista is not the most attractive place and it is obvious that it was a house before which has been converted into a B&B. However, this did not bothered me or my boyfriend, we were interested in the inside of the place.

Just as we were getting out belonging out of the car to check in we spotted the guy whose photograph was on the website so we knew he ran the place. He asked us if we needed help unloading our stuff (but since we were only there for two nights we only had average size overnight bags so we were perfectly capable of carrying them ourselves).

He escorted us into the property which as we walked around the building to the front door was situated in the most perfect spot overlooking the beach. It was the most picturesque view. It had a small garden area and some benches in which to sit (a couple were currently sitting there with a drink). I instantly thought this place is going to be nice.

As we made it into the front desk to the reception we were taken through two nice sized lounge areas where he told us we were welcome to watch tv in and then through the breakfast area. The breakfast area consisted of around 8 tables which were really quaint with their gorgeous matching coloured table sheets and crockery. The owner showed us the 'honesty bar' which was basically just a fridge with a price list above it where we could take whatever drinks and put up a note on the notice board with whatever drink it was and then they'd add the price at the end to our bill. He also said we could put our own drinks in the fridge but only on the top shelf so as not to combine their drinks for sale and our drinks.

We were given our key and shown to our room. Our room was up some stairs along a dark and narrow corridor and at the end. Each door had a really sweet sign on saying 'gone to the beach' which I thought was a really nice touch.

We had some trouble opening our door to the room, or perhaps I should say that I did not have the strength to turn the key but my boyfriend could open it. I would have been worried if he couldn't have opened it.

Then as we opened the door the room was fresh and airy but it was a lot smaller than I had been expecting it to be. It was a double ensuite room with a sea view. I recognised the decor from the website photographs however, I did also notice that the decor was more shabby than chic... it needed a little TLC. I can imagine it looked gorgeous when it was first done but it now needed a little renovating or it may have been a recent renovation with the interior designer but they may have bought cheap materials and decor which obviously had not boded well since it had been done. We had a pink TV which at first I thought was cute but as we spent another day there I worked out that I hated the TV (you could tell it was a cheap almost candy pink TV perhaps one you might buy in the kids section in the Argos catalogue... I'm not saying there is anything wrong with the Argos catalogue but perhaps an adult double room could have looked a little more adult.

The bed was a good size but it meant that there was not a lot of space around the bed. There were two bedside tables and a wardrobe. The drawers underneath the wardrobe could have done with a good clean so I did not put my underwear in the drawers I kept it in my overnight bag.

The ensuite had a shower, toilet and sink; it reminded me of a ferry's cabin bathroom... extremely small and compact, but at least it was a clean shower-room.

On one of the bedside tables was a kettle, cup and saucers and some teabags, coffee and those miniature milk cartons as well as some biscuits. The biscuits were yummy (custard creams), we needed more of the miniature milks which we got downstairs. However, the mugs needed to be chucked or cleaned excessively, they had a bit of a dark rim around the bottom of them making them look like they had barely been washed.

So there were some issues with cleanliness when I really scrutinised things. However, the view from the bedroom was just magnificent so it almost did not matter that certain things were not perfect.

We only met the lady who was seen on the website photograph on our last day when we were checking out. That was because she had just had a baby so she was extremely busy so kept herself to herself which I don't blame her. It seemed that either her or her husband's parents were helping out with the running of the B&B especially in the morning with breakfast.

------------Breakfast...------------

Breakfast was lovely. There was a choice of a full English breakfast or a smoothie. At first this puzzled me because I thought well a smoothie is a drink not a breakfast but it did fill me up as toast was also brought to the table as well as tea or coffee. There was also fruit juices and cereal to choose from which were self-serve at the back of the breakfast room.

It was less than a five minute walk to the beach and to the few shops and restaurants in Mawgan Porth so the location was fab. We wished there was a pavement to walk down or a coastal route (it was quite a steep hill to walk down on quite a busy road).

-----------My Ratings-----------

How welcoming was the B&B? = 10/10

How clean was the place? = 7/10

How comfortable were the rooms? = 7/10 (it loses marks for how small the room was - the bed was very comfortable)

Noise surrounding us = 6/10 - in the morning it was relatively noisy - we could hear people down at breakfast, and there was a dog at the B&B that barked occasionally in the afternoons. We could also hear the people in the room next door to us if they were coming in and out of their room. (I am hoping they did not hear me and my boyfriend arguing! Don't worry it was only a small quarrel that lasted no more than five minutes!)

How was breakfast? = 9/10 - I loved that they provided the healthy option of the smoothie which was extremely filling and my boyfriend loved the full English breakfast

How was the location of the B&B in Mawgan Porth? = 9/10

How were the views? = 10/10

Overall my rating comes to 8/10. Not bad at all in my opinion. Unfortunately the weather was not superb the whole weekend, we had one very hot day and one day of rain which limited what we had to do in Mawgan Porth.

We ate in a Bistro in Mawgan Porth which served superb food! I would definitely eat there again!

----------------------------------------------So how much did this Mini Break set us back?-----------------------------------------------

It was £35.00 per person per night so it was £140.00 altogether... not too bad at all.

Children under 2 years old are free of charge provided they do not require breakfast.

3-11 year olds are 50% off which I thought was pretty good value.

They also have value double rooms which are £30 per night and they provide a babysitting service for £6.00 per hour.

When I phoned to book our room I had to pay a deposit over the phone which was £30.00 per person which I did not mind doing. After I had spoken to the lady on the phone I received a confirmation email which stated:'Hi Daniella,Lovely to speak to you earlier, just a quick email to confirm your booking for a double room for the 22nd and 23rd of July.A deposit of £60 has been paid.We look forward to seeing you.Take careFrances x'Which was a very warm and welcoming email I thought.